Without You
by dragonwings948
Summary: After forcing Rumplestiltskin to cross the town line and never return, Belle has to cope with her grief in a Storybrooke without her true love. Unlikely friends will be made as Belle realizes that being a hero isn't as great as it seemed to be. (Many more characters than what's listed). Set immediately after OUAT 4x11 Heroes and Villains.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I'm sorry, I'm sort of a terrible human being for writing this. After all the emotion in the episode, I just ****_had _****to write a fic about Belle. Literally as soon as the episode ended a flood of ideas came into my head. I'm not quite sure how many chapters this will be yet, but at least four. **

**The Rumbelle goodbye literally killed me, but they're still my OTP and I'll never stop fighting for them. Please review, follow, and favorite! :)**

_"It's time for you to see the world." _

_ Belle smiled at Rumplestiltskin. He had known about her dreams of traveling for a long time, and now that the Snow Queen was gone, it would be the perfect opportunity for them to get away. _

_ Rumple reached his hand across the table and she took it in hers. He smiled at her, seeming just as excited as she was that she would be able to live her dream. _

_ "Elsa must have gotten rid of the ice wall, then?" she asked, sitting up and stretching her arms. _

_ He nodded. "It seems that our friends from Arendelle are now going home."_

_ "How?" She thought that other realms were impossible to reach from here now, at least without a magic bean or another curse. _

_ "A special portal that they found." He stood up. "And one that I must help with." _

_ Belle felt her heart sink, just a little. He was gone so often now, but at least once they left Storybrooke it would just be the two of them with no one else to interrupt. "Is there anything I can do?"_

_ He smiled, his expression softening. "No, it should be fairly simple. You'd be better served beginning your packing here." _

_ She chuckled along with him, pushing the blanket off of her and setting her feet on the ground. She stood up and ran into Rumple's waiting arms, hugging him tightly and placing a gentle kiss on his cheek. _

_ "Thank you, Rumple," she murmured. _

_ He pulled away from her slightly to press his lips to hers. Though she could feel him beginning to pull away after a moment, Belle held on for a few seconds longer, not quite wanting the kiss to end. Finally she relented, though their heads were still only inches apart. _

_ Rumple's smile was wide and pleased. "Your breakfast is going to get cold."_

_ She giggled and kissed him again, though only for a moment. "We wouldn't want that, now would we, with all the effort you put into it?"_

_ He placed a hand on the side of her head, softly caressing her cheek with his thumb. "I'll be back in a little while, and then we're off to New York." His smile grew wider and she grinned in response._

_ Rumple turned away and began to leave the shop._

_ "I love you," Belle called after him, feeling as if she could never say it enough. _

_ He smiled at her over his shoulder. "I love you too." _

Little did she know it was the last time she would ever hear him say those words.

* * *

She had turned so that she couldn't see him, though the scuffling made it sound as if he had fallen to the ground. What she hadn't been prepared for was _hearing _him.

"Belle," she heard in his broken voice. "Belle, please."

Tears fell endlessly from her eyes, unable to be controlled. She clutched the dagger in her fist so hard that her knuckles turned white. His voice was torture, but all the same, she couldn't move.

"I'm so sorry, Belle, I'm so sorry."

She could have sworn that she felt her heart being ripped out of her chest. Maybe he had done just that.

She didn't regret her choice. Rumplesiltskin was a danger to the town, a monster to be reckoned with. And since he had seemed so determined to play his role as the villain, she had no choice but to be the hero and save everyone from the beast.

A broken sob pushed past her throat. She remembered all the times she had dreamed of things like this happening, terrible nightmares which Rumple's soothing voice had chased away. Now they all came back to her, and she thought that she must have always known there was truth in them.

How could she have ever thought that Rumplestiltskin, the Dark One, the most powerful man in the world, would love her? She had been deceiving herself for a long time. He had never loved her. His power had always been everything to him.

Not her. Not ever.

And now she doubted. She had read of true love, and it had been the one thing she had truly wanted: to be chosen and cherished. But now she saw that true love was only for fairytales, for others like Snow White and Prince Charming, but not for her.

"Belle, Belle…"

Belle gritted her teeth and closed her eyes, trying to block out his voice. She could have walked away, but something was gluing her feet to the ground. Perhaps she didn't want to leave him. Perhaps she knew that there was nowhere for her to go now, because _he _was her home.

Her thoughts turned to the thing in her hand, the terrible dagger that had started all of this. She dropped it onto the ground, hearing the clatter with satisfaction. She wished she could destroy it, bury it where no one could ever find it…

A wave of drowsiness came over her, and all she could to was collapse to the ground in a shivering heap. The pavement was frigid, but she couldn't have moved even if she had wanted to.

"Belle," he cried, his sobs so pitiful that they made more tears spring to her eyes.

"Rumple," she whispered as if he could hear her. She wanted so badly to look at his face, to have one more chance to memorize every feature, but she knew that if she did, she would cross the line too.

Tears continued crawling down her cheeks, unabated. Belle closed her eyes. The last thing she remembered was the sound of sobbing behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

"David…" A note of dread crept into Snow's voice.

He sighed. "I'm going as fast as I can." Taking his eyes off the road for only a moment, he grasped Snow's hand in his. "Gold wouldn't hurt her. I know that much."

"I doubt she'd give him the dagger," Emma chimed in, tightening her grip on Killian's hand. "I knew that look on her face too well."

Killian nodded in agreement. "Belle is kind, but she's not stupid. I doubt the Crocodile's comforting words will ever work on her again."

Emma watched the trees blur into a dark green mass out the window. They were getting closer to the town line.

Suddenly Snow's voice cut through the silence. "Is that…?"

David slowed and drove the truck to the edge of the road. Emma looked out the windshield and saw a huddled mass in the middle of the road, just in front of the line.

Snow jumped out of the car, releasing the frigid air into the car. Emma looked at Killian and sighed, releasing his hand and following her mother's lead. "Emma!" Snow cried, reaching the person as her feet hit the pavement.

Emma ran to her mother, stuffing her chilled hands into her pockets, and stooped over Belle. Her chest was moving. She was breathing. However, her face was stained with tears and her hair was all over the place, ripped out of its perfect alignment in many places. Lying just in front of her was the Dark One's dagger.

"What happened?" Emma wondered, looking up at her mom.

Snow examined the scene with her eyes widened in horror and surprise. She looked over Belle's form and then turned her head. She looked over to the right side of the road and paused.

"Mom?"

Snow walked to the edge of the road, right where it met with the grass, and bent down. She reached her hand to the ground, picking up something small that glinted in the truck's headlights.

"What is it?" Emma walked over to her and met her halfway.

Snow held up a silver ring, covered with dirt in some places. Emma looked back at Belle and noted that a pale ring of skin replaced the wedding band she once wore on her left ring finger.

"Oh, God," Emma whispered. She looked at the town line, marked in red. The dagger, the ring, the tears… "She must have sent him over the town line."

"She saved us," Snow said in awe, though her eyes betrayed the compassionate sadness she was feeling.

Emma sniffed, the cold starting to take a toll on her. She nodded at the car. "Come on, we'd better take her back to our place. It's freezing out here." She leaned over and shook Belle's shoulder. "Belle?"

Belle's eyebrows furrowed together and she inhaled a deep, shaking breath.

"Belle." Emma shook her again, a little harder. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked with confusion first at Emma, and then at Snow. She opened her mouth to speak, but Emma beat her to it.

"No time to talk, you need to get warm. Come on." Emma grabbed onto her arm and helped her to her feet. "Are you okay?" she asked, looking into her eyes and grabbing onto her shoulders.

However, Belle didn't seem to comprehend anything she was saying. Her eyes seemed dazed, and Emma wondered if she was in some kind of shock or frozen by the cold.

A car door slammed. "Need any help?" Killian offered, appearing in front of the truck.

"We need to get her warm as soon as we can." Emma gently squeezed Belle's shoulder. "Hey Belle, can you walk to the car?"

She nodded blankly, though Snow and Emma held onto her as she moved her feet toward the truck. Killian rushed to them, holding out his hand. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Tell David to turn the heat all the way up," Snow offered.

Killian took one look at Belle and clenched his jaw, his eyes hardening. He gave a sharp nod and jogged back to the car.

Belle got to the car fine and even climbed inside, though she wouldn't respond to anything else. Emma climbed in next to her and Snow sat on the other side so that Belle was nestled in between them. Killian sat up front with David and pointed the air vents to the back.

Snow put an arm around Belle, casting a worried glance at Emma. Belle shivered and sighed, closing her eyes and leaning her head back against the seat.

"Is she going to be okay?" Snow asked in a low voice.

Emma shrugged. "Being out in the cold for that long can be dangerous."

"How long was she out there?" David asked as he turned the truck around.

"Maybe an hour, maybe more. It's hard to tell. But it's been at least an hour since she and Gold left."

Snow shook her head. "We should have come sooner."

Emma nodded. Savior of Killian and of the entire town, and here she was, shivering, possibly in shock, and probably sick. "I think I underestimated Belle."

"I think we all did," Snow put in.

Killian nodded slowly. "Rumplestiltskin deceived her more than any of us."

"Why did she ever trust him?" Emma wondered, looking at Belle's peaceful expression. She had always thought it was the strangest of pairs: the immortal Dark One and one of the nicest people she had ever known.

Snow sighed. "She was in love, Emma."


End file.
